Good Company (July 2004)

Company of good persons is the root of all happiness and well-being. While association with evil persons leads to misery – Tulsidas.
A person either follows the good road in life or the crooked path. The kind of path a person follows depends on the company he keeps. What type of a person one will turn out to be depends on what type of person one is living with. A small child begins to copy the ways of his neighbours. A child who has a very good nature turns out to be a bad child if he keeps the company of bad people. And a bad boy can, on the other hand, become a very good boy if he moves in the company of the good.

Bad habits creep in the child if he has a wicked friend. He learns to steal. He begins to speak lies. He learns to cheat or deceive others. Bad company leads him to go astray. He begins to copy the vices of evil-minded people. The young boy pays no interest in his school work, and he thus spoils his good future.

Therefore, a young child must always bear in mind what kind of a friend he has, what kind of a person he mixes with and plays with, and with what sort of person he is moving around. A boy is like a young plant. The plant will grow in the direction that we turn its stems. Similarly, it is easy for a young boy or girl to follow the wrong road.

Company also has an effect on grown-up people. They also become bad by falling into the company of bad people. They not only spoil their own life but they also ruin the future of their family. As time goes on they begin to neglect their own children.

Therefore, whether it is a young child or an elderly person, we must keep away from the company of wicked people. We must, at all times, seek the company of good people.